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Friday looms as decision day in the SEC

A SEC Championship helmet is seen, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, in Atlanta. Georgia and Alabama will play Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Most schools in the SEC have a plan to bring athletes back to campus June 1.

UAMS also released a plan last week advising on how to bring back high school sports.

So at least there are discussions about the return of sports.

This coming Friday, SEC presidents and chancellors are scheduled to vote on whether to allow athletes back on campus June 1.

The SEC may be the most powerful conference in the country, but it answers to the campus bosses of the 14 schools.

The SEC announced last week the formation of the Return to Activity and Medical Guidance Task Force to study the feasibility of returning athletes to campus.

Each school has a representative, and 12 of those are medical doctors. The University of Arkansas is represented by its chief orthopedic surgeon Chris Arnold, who has been the UA team physician since 2008.

Georgia and Kentucky chose their associate athletic directors for sports medicine as representatives.

LSU and Missouri’s doctors are specialists in infectious diseases.

At this time in our lives, doctors and scientists are who we should be listening to.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s almost daily news conferences are joined by Dr. Nate Smith, the health secretary in Arkansas. Hutchinson includes Smith in his briefings, which is very different than what is going on in our nation’s capital right now.

It seems every school has a plan to bring athletes back by June 1, but one of the big concerns the schools in the SEC share is making sure athletes are in a medically safe environment on campus where they can be tested and monitored.

Any voluntary weight lifting would be in the school’s sanitized weight rooms monitored by trained personnel, which is probably better than the local gym.

Getting football players back on campus would be a huge step toward at least having the players in shape in case a football season does occur this fall.

No doubt the other Power 5 conferences are watching the SEC.

The SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 are so powerful that they don’t need the NCAA’s approval. In fact, the NCAA needs those five conferences more than they need the NCAA.

This could be the start of those conferences strongly considering breaking away from the NCAA in football and forming their own alliance if the NCAA resists whatever they decide about a return to campus, as well as fall football.

Arkansas, LSU and Florida have said they are prepared to have athletes on campus June 1.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that professional teams are welcome to work out in Florida. Scott Stricklin, Florida’s AD, has said the pros are welcome on his campus.

So it appears momentum might be gathering for the SEC to allow athletes on campus beginning June 1.

It would be a big step, but it is not the final one.

Doctors and scientists will closely monitor whether there are outbreaks of covid-19 among players. If there are few to no problems on the football teams, it makes sense that a number of students could return in the fall.

Basically, allowing athletes on campus June 1 seems like a test.

No doubt all will be tested for the virus when they arrive on campus, and their temperatures will be taken every day at least once.

All precautions will be taken because one thing is clear: The doctors, scientists, administrators and conference commissioners are on the same page about the safety of athletes.